Wednesday 27 June 2012, Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC), Suva, Fiji

A training workshop on gender and climate change was conducted in Suva, Fiji, from 20 to 22 June 2012. The aim of the training workshop was to strengthen participants' understanding of the gender analysis approach and to enable participants to apply the gender analysis tool in the context of climate change. Around 40 officers from government ministries and non-governmental organisations in Fiji attended.

In opening the workshop, Colonel Apakuki Kurusiga, the Deputy Chief Executive Officer of the iTaukei (indigenous Fijian) Affairs Board, said that sustainable development can only be ensured if gender issues are integrated into planning and women’s contributions and challenges are taken seriously. The impacts of climate change on different gender groups will need to be better identified since men and women face social, economic and ecological issues and challenges in different ways. This will require them to acquire different capacities and knowledge.

In his welcoming remarks, Inoke Ratukalou, Acting Director, Land Resources Division of the Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC), said that an important strategy for reducing our vulnerability and enhancing our resilience to the impacts of climate change is to understand the different roles that women, men, youth and children play. Mr Ratukalou told participants that the workshop should enhance their understanding of these different roles and that this understanding can help them identify effective interventions to create opportunities for the improved management of our limited resources in the face of a changing climate.
Lasarusa Turaga, Planning Officer of the Ministry of Fisheries and Forests, said he learned a lot about gender and climate change issues. ‘I wouldn't miss an opportunity to attend another similar workshop,’ he said.

Speaking on behalf of the participants, Anjanie Paddy of the Prime Minister’s Office praised the workshop, saying that the interactive and participatory sessions contributed greatly to the learning experience and the creation of networks. Special gratitude was expressed to the gender trainer, Mereseini Seniloli of SPC. For most participants this was the first training on gender they had ever been to.

The workshop was organised by the SPC/ German International Development Cooperation (GIZ) Coping with Climate Change in the Pacific Region programme, in partnership with the Ministry of iTaukei Affairs, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation and the Ministry of Social Welfare, Women and Poverty Alleviation.